Stock No. 3646	Lord Nelson - Battle of Trafalgar silver medal
Small silver medal commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, during which Lord Nelson was killed. Obverse: Bust of Lord Nelson in full uniform looking left. Legend: ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY. Reverse: TRAFALGAR/ 27 ENG./ DEFEATED/ 33 SP. & FR./ & / CAPTURED 19 / OCT. 21 . 1805.

Condition :-Extremely Fine and nicely toned
Circa :- 1805
Size :- 0.8 inches (20.3 mm) diameter
This medal is rare in silver. It was struck in circa 1805 and issued together with three other similar medals for the Battle of St. Vincent (Feb. 14, 1797), the Battle of Aboukir on the Nile (Aug. 1, 1798) and the Battle of Copenhagen (April 2, 1801).. These four medals were issued in a small silver box. The complete set in a box is very rare. Horatio Nelson (1758 - 1805), Viscount, Duke of Bronte and third surviving son of the Reverend Edmund Nelson, was born at Burnham Thorpe rectory in Norfolk. He joined the navy as a midshipman under his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling of the "Raisonnable". Nelson's final battle was at Cape Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 . After dogging the combined French and Spanish enemy fleet of thirty-three ships for some time, Nelson attacked in two columns. He led the port column and the starboard column was led by Admiral Collingwood. The battle lasted for approximately seven hours. Nelson was mortally wounded by a musket ball fired by a sharp-shooter in the "Redoubtable" early on in the engagement. However, he lived long enough to know the outcome of the battle and died in the arms of Captain Hardy saying "I have done my duty, praise God for it". Seventeen enemy ships were captured, one was burnt and the remainder fled. Nelson's body was brought back to England and he was buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral on January 9, 1806. The musket ball which killed Nelson is preserved in the Waterloo Room at Windsor Castle. See volume I of "British Historical Medals 1760-1960" by Laurence Brown.

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